Sgt. Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) and his right hand man Chris Vail (Jake Johnson) are on assignment for the U.S. Military in Iraq, but, in truth, they use their position as ‘reconnaissance scouts’ to loot ancient treasures to sell on the black market. Hot on Nick’s heels is Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis), a legitimate archaeologist who is furious at him for stealing the map that she hopes will lead her to an ancient tomb that has been mysteriously hidden throughout history.

As for why almost all records of this ancient Egyptian burial have been erased, one must go back thousands of years to find that there was once a princess named Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) who in her lust for power jealously killed the rest of the royal family and courted the ‘god of death’ himself, Set. However, before her ritual to bring him into this world is complete, she is apprehended and ‘buried’ alive.

Denied death’s embrace, but unable to escape her sarcophagus, Ahmanet remains in her tomb until would be treasure hunters Nick and Vail, uncover it. Soon, Nick, Vail and Jenny are on board a military cargo plane with their prize, heading back to England. The plane will never make it.

Ahmanet, now free in London, is searching for the artifact she needs to usher in a new age of darkness. Together, Nick, Jenny, and the ‘historical’ society she works for, led by Dr. Henry (Russell Crowe) are the only thing that stands in the way of a now awakened mummy with the power to command the dead. Should she also succeed in raising the god of death herself, then what force on Earth can stop her?

“The Mummy” is an exciting, at times thrilling, monster movie that is heavy on the horror, light on humor, but with a script so uninspired as to almost be forgettable despite the action, which often does reach frenetic levels. Morally, the film has much to concern viewers.

Objectionable Content

Language: Moderate. The Lord’s name is taken in vain 5x (OMG 4x, G*d 1x) as well as several mentions of becoming a ‘living god’. Other language included; sh** (2x), a** (1), a**h*** (1), bit** (1), son-of-a-*** (2), bast**d (1), he** 9x(2-times preceded by ‘bloody’), dam* (3) and pi** (1). A lower foul language count than most PG-13 movies, this is still inappropriate for younger children. There is also crude sexual innuendo regarding the one-night stand that Nick and Jenny shared previous to the movie’s events, and this is brought up a second time, as well. There is frequent demonic chanting which, although undecipherable, still sounds ritualistic.

Violence: Heavy. Mostly bloodless, people are killed by bullets, explosions, crashes, drowning and, in one instance, stabbed and shot to death up close. People are supernaturally assaulted by spiders, rats, crows, a ‘living’ sand storm, while others have their lives gruesomely sucked out of them by the mummy who uses their life essence to regenerate her century’s old body.

Spiders are used to aid in her possession of people, and one does this by crawling into a man’s ear. Many corpses are seen, some only recently dead (i.e., plane crash), and the mummy uses her power to reanimate them to act as her undead army. Lifeless, but without fear, they launch themselves at her enemies, and even when Nick punches through their head or breaks them in half they continue attacking.

Ahmanet is shown cutting herself during a blood ritual and while killing her family with a knife (unseen) blood splatters her face upon each murder, one of whom is a baby. Ahmanet screams as she is first mummified and again later when, as the mummy, she is shot through by multiple barbed arrows and subsequently has mercury pumped into her body. Doctor Henry agonizingly jabs his hand with a large device regularly.

With demonic violence throughout, this film could be particularly harmful to a child’s psyche, and yet there are still more concerns worth noting.

Sex/Nudity: During the flashbacks to ancient Egypt, Princess Ahmanet is often in thin clingy clothes and during a ritual is fully naked in a side view, although this is seen from behind a thin curtain while later her full backside can be seen uncovered and nude. During the ritual to bring her god of death into our world, she is straddling a man about to sacrifice him with a dagger, but is stopped before she can finish. Nick is caught staring at Jenny’s bare belly as she is reaching for something, and later he is naked but obscured underneath a thick plastic, although he covers up quickly when some people arrive. The nudity/near nudity and sexual situations (not to mention the sexual barbing between Nick and Jenny), make this likewise poor material for teens.

Alcohol/drug use: Nick is seen in a bar drinking heavily after a plane crash, and, later, Dr. Henry is seen drinking hard liquor, while Nick joins him. Nick is shot with a tranquilizer dart, and Dr. Henry self-medicates frequently as cited earlier.

Lessons

A special effects laden film starring Tom Cruise about a resurrected Egyptian Princess bent on ruling the world is meant to entertain audiences and will not have many teachable moments. However, the fact that the film addresses subjects such as death, Satan, possession and sin provides topics worth discussing, should you see this film.

Death: Ahmanet has made a deal with the devil in exchange for her immortality. Later, she taunts Jenny with the claim that only she knows what comes “after this life,” leaving our unsaved heroine taken aback. The Word of God is clear on both the finality of death, what follows this life and what we truly need to be concerned about, and it is not death.

Satan: Dr. Henry wants the power of Set, who he also refers to as Satan, to to fight evil. The enemies of Jesus foolishly thought along the same lines when they accused Him of colluding with the devil, but our saviorJesus easily rebuked their argument, as only the Son of God can.

“You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive?” —Luke 11:18

Sin: Although this is never mentioned in the movie, the Doctor prefers to just refer to ‘evil,’ he does wonder out loud, “If evil were a pathogen, then there must be a cure.” Evil does have a name, and, as the ApostlePaul teaches us, Jesus came to defeat it.

The increasing trend for horror films, such as this one, is to portray a false picture of a world that is without God and suggest that heroes may need to use evil means in order to combat evil. This should not come as a surprise, for even this was foretold.

Audiences, eagerly anticipating the first of Universal’s slew of upcoming monster films under the banner of “Dark Universe,” may have gotten what they asked for—that is, if they were expecting a simple horror film. While the action is intense and the effects are excellent, the film fails in several areas, not the least of which includes a non-existent romance (Nick and Jenny have no chemistry), a comparatively humorless story and a lackluster script. I cannot recommend “The Mummy”—an unimpressive movie marred by distasteful content and a spiritually dark focus that culminates in an especially blasphemous fashion.

Neutral—I walked into the theater knowing about all the bad reviews of this movie, but I gotta say that I actually kinda liked it. I had fun watching it. It had good action and adventure and even humor. Yes, Tom cruise does make it a little about himself, but what do you expect. If you are looking for a good family movie with not a lot of swearing or sexual content, but still has huge fights and action, maybe you should try “The Mummy.” It’s really not all that bad…My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: no opinion

Chris Dye, age 27 (USA)

Negative

Negative—Let me start by saying this: I love the 1999 version of “The Mummy.” It has all the best elements of adventure movies blended together: action, romance, thrills, chills, and memorable comedy. It’s a rip-off of “Indiana Jones…” but it embraces that role in a tongue-in-cheek manner. This 2017 reboot is another animal all together. While the opening 20 minutes kept the light, adventurous tone, it quickly spiraled downhill from there into a very dark, disturbing tale.

The original reviewer covered all those bases rather well: Ahmanet’s literal deal with the Devil, the copious zombie violence, Dr. Jekyll’s philosophizing about the nature of evil, and the sensuality of Ahmanet’s flashbacks/mind control sequences (she’s also clad in nothing but strategically shredded mummification rags once she’s “resurrected”)—all add up to some uncomfortable viewing.

To compound these issues, the movie is incredibly unoriginal; it’s like every other action movie recycled. Beautiful female archaeologist? Check. Wise-cracking sidekick? Check. Choreographed fight/chase sequences at a breakneck pace? Check. While this formula isn’t necessarily unsuccessful, the manner in which it’s done here definitely was.

Additionally, the acting was almost uniformly awful; not one of the relationships portrayed onscreen seemed believable. Throwing in a secret agency that “fights evil” was just weird, as it added even more chaos to an already jumbled story. (Also, it demonstrates how, yet again, Hollywood is so often set on undermining basic Christian beliefs, like the existence of God or the reality of sin).

I won’t lie: there were a few enjoyable scenes/lines, but picking through the dumpster of spiritual darkness and rehashed CGI stunts simply isn’t worth it. Go watch the 1999 version, if you’re looking for a fun adventure film!My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2

Christina, age 24 (USA)

Negative—This is not a movie for children, rated PG-13, should be rated NC-17. It takes the Lord’s name in vain once and has very dark and occultic practices that should not be viewed by anyone. Be aware that playing this in your home is setting out a welcome mat for spiritual wickedness. If you are concerned about the safety of your family you should probably pass on this movie.My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4

…feels derivative and unnecessary and like it was written by committee (which a quick scan of its lengthy script credits confirms). …

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly

…the reason the Marvel shared universe, which took years to build up, works, is because all of its superheroes feel engagingly human: fully-formed characters we actually want to spend time with. Here, the writing is one-note, and the leads little more than placeholders. …

Rebecca Hawkes, The Telegraph

…doesn't feel like a Tom Cruise movie. …It’s not that it’s bad, it’s that it never could have been good. It’s an irredeemable disaster from start to finish… worst Tom Cruise movie ever…

David Ehrlich, IndieWire

…It will grab ideas, motifs, and effects from almost any genre and jam them together, palming off its grab-bag quality as “originality” …bumptious monster mash of a movie…

Owen Gleiberman, Variety

…The Cruisemeister himself is left high and dry by plot lurches which leave him doing his boggle-eyed WTF expression. In one scene he is nude so we can see what undeniably great shape he's in. The flabby, shapeless film itself doesn't have his muscle-tone…